Wyomissing rips Bermudian Springs to win District 3 AA championship

HERSHEY, Pa. - The Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act was established in 1940 to protect both bald and golden eagles within the United States borders.

Bermudian Springs, nicknamed the Eagles, probably wishes high school football teams also received protection under that same federal law, because it got gunned down by Wyomissing.

Wyomissing (13-) ripped and rolled through Bermudian Springs (12-1) for an impressive 403 yards rushing on just 40 team carries, claiming the program's first District 3 football championship since 2006 with a 44-0 rout in the District 3 Class AA title game from Hersheypark Stadium Friday night.

With the victory, Wyomissing will face District 4 champion Danville, a 28-21 victor over Mount Carmel Area next Saturday afternoon in a PIAA Class AA quarterfinal game at Hersheypark Stadium. Danville won its first District 4 football championship since 1999.

In PIAA mercy rule games, a running clock is employed in the second half when a team leads another by 35 points or more. The clock only stops for timeouts, injuries, possession changes or scoring plays. If the losing team pulls within 35 points at any point after the running clock is invoked, the mercy rule still remains in effect.

At the onset of the game, someone in the press box quipped about the lack of flashiness of the paper banner the Spartans' football team ran through onto the field. But Wyomissing flashed past the Yorks-Adams League rep Eagles all game long.

"We're pretty explosive," said Wyomissing head coach Bob Wolfrum, who won his 240th career game in the process. "They (Bermudian Springs) were hurt and we out-personnelled them. But he (Bermudian head coach Jon DeFoe) does a great job with that program and I love the way he coaches his team.

"Save tonight, they had the same record as us each of the last two years we faced them," Wolfrum continued. "There's no baloney between our two programs. It's just a good game when we play each other."

Bermudian Springs played without its leading rusher, a 1,200-yard rusher in Zack Stroup, who injured his collarbone the previous week. And senior quarterback Michael Moore was a game-time decision due to a concussion. Moore played, but completed just 4-of-12 passes for 83 yards.

Wyomissing eschewed the baloney, the fillers, the what-have-you all game long. It feasted on a steady diet of traps, sweeps and draws, gouging the Eagles for 327 yards rushing in the first half on just 22 carries. In fact, within its first 10 plays from scrimmage, the Spartans already held a commanding 21-0 lead.

It only got wider.

Alex Anzalone, a Notre Dame recruit, ripped off touchdown runs of 5 and 91 yards which were sandwiched around a Jonah Bowman 26-yard field goal to build a 37-0 halftime lead. Justin Causa gashed Bermudian for a 53-yard touchdown run and a 37-yard run later in the half. Mason Smith also chalked up a 30-yard run on the Spartans' initial touchdown drive. And the seldom-used Spartan aerial assault landed a 22-yard touchdown pass from Joe Cacchione to Spencer Lloyd.

But Wolfrum said it wasn't as easy as it might have looked.

"They played a defensive alignment we hadn't seen all season, the 5-3, and it threw us off a little bit," Wolfrum said. "But we had some big third down plays because our backs can scoot a bit."

Both Anzalone and Causa rushed for more than 100 yards in just one half of action. Anzalone had 121 and Causa 113. Mason Smith added 82 yards on seven carries and reserve Scott McAvoy had 64 on five totes, including a 19-yard touchdown run for the exclamation point on the rout.

Fourteen different Spartans registered at least one carry in the game.

"This is an accomplishment we've been working for our whole lives," Causa said postgame in front of the Wyomissing side of bleachers. "I've been playing football for 11 years, and tonight feels like all of the hard work we've put in has finally paid off."

Bermudian boasted a pair of 1,000-yard rushers entering the game. Tristan Sponseller, who rushed for more than 1,100 yards entering the game, was held to 10 yards on six carries and caught two passes for 23 yards. Bermudian, as a team, rushed for just 43 yards on 27 carries and finished with 126 yards of total offense.

The Eagles faced Wyomissing in the District 3 Class AA semifinals last season, and were defeated, 34-7. Wyomissing, meanwhile, had reached two consecutive district title games in 2010 and '11 and finished the bridesmaid both times.

"This (winning the title) was a goal of ours all season long," Wolfrum said. "We got here each of the last two years but came away empty-handed. This is a (senior) class who has set some pretty lofty goals."

NOTES: Bermudian Springs has a combined record of 23-2 over the last two seasons and DeFoe owns a career record of 96-55 at the helm of the York Springs-based program......Wyomissing has established a new single-season record for team points scored in a season, with 525. The previous school record for points scored in a season was 515, set in 2006, when the Spartans reached the PIAA AA semifinals.........Wyomissing outrushed Bermudian 327-13 in the first half.........Anzalone's 1,169 yards rushing lead the team, but Wyomissing has four backs in all with 600+ yards rushing, including Causa (723), Smith (620) and Brandon Gonzalez (600).

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